Spreads

🇷🇸Serbia

Ajvar

Ајвар

Relish made from roasted peppers and eggplants, a popular condiment throughout the Balkans, traditionally prepared in autumn, versatile and savory.

🇲🇦Morocco

Amlou

أملو

Ground almonds blended with culinary argan oil and honey into a glossy Moroccan spread.

🇲🇨Monaco, Monaco

Anchoia de

Salty anchovy paste made from anchovies, olive oil, and salt; a Monegasque condiment served with raw vegetables (crudités) as a dip; the local version of the Mediterranean anchovy paste, used across Monegasque cuisine.

🇳🇱Netherlands

Apple Syrup

Appelstroop

Thick dark syrup made from apple juice, similar to apple butter but thinner, used on bread, pancakes, and in cooking.

🇷🇺Russia

Baklazhannaya ikra

Икра баклажанная

Roasted eggplant mashed with sweet pepper, tomato and onion into a smoky spread; Soviet cookbooks called it poor man's caviar.

🇱🇰Sri Lanka

Caramelised Onion Relish

සීනි සම්බෝල

Onions cooked down slowly with sugar, tamarind, maldive fish, chilli and spices into a dark, sticky sweet-hot relish.

🇨🇾Cyprus

Carob Syrup

Χαρουπόμελο

Carob pods boiled down into a dark, treacly syrup once called the island's black gold, poured over anari and bread.

🇨🇭Switzerland

Cenovis

A dark, salty yeast-extract spread with a faintly sweeter, less bitter profile than its British relatives, scraped onto buttered bread.

🇮🇱Israel

Charoset

חרוסת

Paste of chopped fruit, nuts, wine and spice eaten at the Passover seder, meant to look like the mortar of Egyptian brickwork.

🇬🇧England, United Kingdom

Cornish clotted cream

Cornish clotted cream is thick cream slowly heated until a rich crust forms on the surface.

🇮🇶Iraq

Daheen

دهين

Date syrup beaten with sesame paste and sometimes flour into a dense, dark sweet eaten with bread at breakfast.

🇸🇩Sudan

Dakwa

Peanuts roasted and pounded coarse with salt into a rough butter that thickens stews, dresses salads and is eaten on bread.

🇪🇪Estonia

Egg Butter

Munavõi

Spread made from hard-boiled eggs mixed with butter, a simple but traditional Estonian bread topping.

🇷🇴Romania

Fish Roe Spread

Salată de icre

Fish roe whipped with oil, lemon and soda water until it doubles into a pale pink mousse, eaten with bread and raw onion.

🇩🇪Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurter Schneegestöber

Frankfurter Schneegestöber is a rustic spread of ripe Camembert, butter, onion and paprika mashed into a soft orange paste.

🇬🇳Guinea

Guinean Peanut Paste

Pâte d'arachide

Pure ground peanut paste simmered until the oil rises; the base of sauce arachide (mafé); the Conakry version is thicker and browner than the Senegalese; the essential sauce base.

🇮🇱Israel

Hilbeh

חילבה

Fenugreek soaked and whipped with water until it forms a pale foam, mixed with schug and eaten with Yemenite breads and soups.

🇮🇪Ireland

Irish Butter

Grass-fed butter, a globally recognised Irish product.

🇧🇬Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Katak

Катък

Drained sheep's yogurt whipped with garlic, savory and hot pepper into a tangy, salty cream — a Rhodope preservation trick from before refrigeration.

🇮🇩Singapore, Indonesia

Kaya

Coconut and egg jam, slow-cooked to caramel perfection, smooth texture with balanced caramel-coconut flavor and fragrant pandan, a Malaysian breakfast essential.

🇦🇴Angola

Kitaba

Roasted peanuts pounded coarse with chilli and salt into a crunchy, oily paste eaten with bread or funge.

🇧🇬Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Kyopoolu

Кьополу

Aubergine and roasted red pepper mashed with garlic, walnuts and vinegar into a coarse, smoky spread. A Thracian autumn preserve eaten cold on bread.

🇩🇰Denmark

Leverpostej (Liver Pâté)

Leverpostej

A Danish pork liver pâté, smooth and savory, served on rugbrød with pickled beets and bacon

🇸🇰Slovakia

Liptauer

Liptovská bryndzová nátierka

Liptauer is a paprika-seasoned spread based on fresh curd cheese, onion, capers, and herbs; the Slovak Liptov form and Austrian Heuriger version share one canonical.

🇫🇮Finland

Lohitahna

Salmon pâté/tahna, a popular sandwich spread

🇽🇰Kosovo

Long

Cream and fresh curd beaten together with salt into a thick, sour white spread eaten with hot bread.

🇲🇰North Macedonia

Lutenica

Лутеница

Hot pepper relish cooked down with tomato, garlic and chilli until dark and thick, jarred for the winter.

🇧🇬Bulgaria

Lyutenitsa

Лютеница

Roasted red pepper and tomato cooked down for hours with carrot, sometimes aubergine, into a thick relish. Every household jars its own in autumn; the whole country smells of pepper roasting.

🇲🇰North Macedonia

Malidžano

Малиџано

Roasted aubergine chopped fine with walnut, garlic, cheese and oil into a coarse spread eaten with bread.

🇩🇴Dominican Republic

Mambá

Manba

A Dominican spicy peanut butter of ground peanuts, oil, and hot pepper, eaten with casabe. A rustic, traditional spread from the northwest, of African origin.

🇨🇱Chile

Manjar

Chilean dulce de leche, used as filling and topping for desserts, smooth and creamy with caramel flavor, a national staple.

🇧🇴Bolivia

Manjar Blanco

A smooth Bolivian milk caramel cooked to a spreadable consistency and used as a filling for alfajores and other desserts.

🇨🇦Quebec, Canada

Maple Butter

Beurre d'érable

Spreadable maple syrup product made by crystallizing pure maple syrup, Quebec specialty for toast and pastries.

🇬🇧England, United Kingdom

Marmite

A sticky black yeast extract left over from brewing, intensely salty and savoury, scraped thin onto buttered toast.

🇮🇱Israel

Matbucha

מטבוחה

Slow-cooked salad of tomatoes and roasted peppers with garlic and chilli, reduced for hours until it is dark and jammy, served cold.

🇵🇱Poland

Metka

Polish fresh, spreadable pork sausage (liverwurst-style), seasoned with marjoram and onions. Spread on bread, a rustic, savory snack, a countryside staple.